Casino renovation under way

Casino renovation under way

RAMA - The casino that deals “big excitement” is undergoing some big changes.
Work is underway on a “major multi-million-dollar” renovation project at Casino Rama, with the first phase to include a relocation and redevelopment of the main entrance.
“This is the first major capital investment in the casino since 2002,” said spokesperson Jenna Hunter. “We are very much due.”
The main entrance will move from the original casino building to the rotunda, recognized for its multi-colored, cone-shaped roof feature.
The rotunda’s ‘story-teller lodge’, with its animated ‘talking trees’, will be removed to make way for a new cultural display.
“We always want to make sure that visitors to this area can learn about the First Nations land that we live on, but we want to make sure that it is fresh, and that it is interesting,” Hunter added.
Some existing services are to be relocated to make way for the new features.
The Responsible Gaming Resource Centre, for example, is being moved to the bus entrance.
“It is very important to us that that is something that is easily accessible to people that need it and that it is very visible,” Hunter added, noting the centre would be accessible from outside.
“If people do wish to visit it because they feel they may have an issue, they can access it without having to come across the gaming floor,” she said.
The credit office moves across the hall, next to the VIP services desk.
Hunter said the project’s first phase is anticipated to wrap up by late spring or early summer.
Additional phases will focus on “bringing more excitement to the actual gaming floor itself, which has not seen a major update since it opened in 1996.”
Hunter said the work was not being undertaken in response to new gaming facilities that are proposed for Ontario.
“The renovation has been planned for quite some time,” she said, adding that, “it just so happened that the timing coincided, in some respects.”
A source told Orillia Today the project could cost upwards of $25 million, though Hunter declined to comment on the figure.
“We believe so strongly in the integrity of the (bidding) process that we don’t want to compromise it,” she added. “At the end of the day, it is taxpayers’ money, and we want to spend it as wisely and as conservatively as possible.”
The casino east of Orillia employs a staff of 2,500.
“We go up to about 2,800 in peak season, Hunter added.